Test of Courage
by XxUchihaCherryBlossomxX
Summary: Team Q4 is training on the island resort with Team New AL4. On the night of their campfire, what if things went differently?


"You guys start here," Ren said cheerfully as he walked away with the other scarers. The others, Misaki, Kai, Asaka, Aichi, Emi, Mai, Kamui, and Tetsu watched them until they were out of sight. Most of them were wondering how they got themselves into this. They each took a paper from the box and unfolded them. Emi and Mai paired up with Tetsu, much to Kamui's dismay. Unfortunately for him, he ended up alone. Aichi paired with Asaka, they seemed out of place with each other. That left Misaki and Kai, which was another awkward pairing. Everyone split up after that was done.

Misaki followed Kai from behind, looking from side to side, thinking something was going to pop out any minute.

"You're scared." Misaki looked at Kai's back in front of her, surprised he could even tell with his back turned, but she wasn't going to let him know that he was right.

"I'm not-," a breeze blew past her, making a shiver run through her body as the the leaves rustled around her. She gave a small scream and grabbed onto Kai's arm. She didn't even realize what she just did until she met Kai's stare, which was slightly surprised. She could feel her face heating up from embarrassment and looked away from him. Her hands were still clinging to him though.

"You're scared," he said again, but he didn't make a move to remove her hands. He was slightly surprised by this side of her. She was always so serious and composed and maybe a bit scary and cold at times that it was strange to see her so vulnerable. She was a headstrong woman and he respected her for that. Seeing her like this, scared of ghosts and monsters of all things, made her kind of...cute.

"So what if I am," she snapped, turning her head to the side so he couldn't see her red face. Kai smirked a little and proceeded forward, with her still clinging to his arm. He heard a rustle in the bushes ahead and felt Misaki stiffen beside him. Three figures popped out from the bushes wearing ridiculous costumes, in Kai's opinion, and started making noises at them. Kai had a blank face the whole time, but Misaki was scared out of her wits.

"Kyaa!" She flung herself at Kai, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her face in his chest, now that surprised him. He stared wide eyed at her, not knowing what to do.

"She said 'kyaa!'" Kai looked over at the three "monsters," it was Miwa, Izaki, and Morikawa.

"Nee-chan is pretty cute when she's scared ne?" Miwa said with an amused grin. At this, Misaki's head snapped in their direction, a glare on her face.

"What did you say?" The three froze at her tone.

"Calm down, I was kidding," her glare didn't waver and they could feel beads of sweat rolling down their faces. Then she felt Kai move from her hold and instead took her hand.

"Let's go Tokura," and he dragged her away from them.

"Good luck with her Kai!" Kai ignored Miwa and kept walking. He felt Misaki's hand tighten around his. He looked back at her, she was looking down with a light blush on her cheeks. Was she that embarrassed by this?

"There's nothing wrong with being scared," her shocked expression met his gaze. She looked back down for a minute and then smiled softly. She squeezed his hand lightly.

"Arigato, Kai," he turned his head away from her. They kept walking down the narrow path. Something moved up ahead. Leaves rustled and then parted, revealing a single figure with three glowing faces smiling wickedly. Misaki paled, Kai didn't have time to think and before he knew it, he was being dragged straight towards the manager and Kamui's two followers. Misaki was too busy being frightened to even care who it was and plowed right through them. Kai stopped them at an open clearing that sloped down slightly. The sudden stop startled her and she reeled back almost losing her footing. He could see she was breathing heavily and shivering. He was about to say something when someone else interrupted.

"Hello." They both recognized the voice. They turned around to see Ren's back.

"Ren."

"Ren? Does his face look like this?" When he turned to face them, his face was gone. Misaki immediately freaked out, stepping back only to meet the slope of the hill with her heel. She panicked as she felt herself fall back. Kai stretched his hand out, grabbing her's, but his foot slipped on the grass. Kai pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her before they started tumbling down the hill. Misaki clenched his shirt in tight fists, head buried in his shoulder and eyes shut tight, waiting for them to stop. They landed in a tangle of limbs. Misaki was covered by Kai's bigger build, wrapped protectively in his embrace. Despite his protection she could feel pain surging through her left foot. She gasped in pain when she shifted it slightly. Kai hauled himself off her at the small intake of breath.

"What's wrong?" Misaki sat up carefully to assess the damage. She took her shoe off slowly, breathing shakily with pain. When her foot was freed, she could see the swelling of her ankle. Before she could touch it, Kai gently lifted her foot into his hands, examining it himself.

"Misa-ki, Kai! Are you okay?" Ren finally made in down the hill. A nerve ticked on Misaki's temple.

"Misaki!"She snapped, growing tired of his inability to pronounce her name right, that or he just enjoyed pissing her off.

"Can you walk?" She turned back to Kai's piercing peridot eyes, still holding on to her foot with great care. She bit her lip. The swelling had increased.

"I don't know."

"Do you need me to carry you? You can ride on my back," Ren said without guile, but Misaki's face redden with embarrassment and anger.

"I'm wearing a skirt, baka!"

"...So?" She was not going to explain to this naive idiot why that idea was not good. She stayed where she was until Kai lifted her by her elbow. She was going to pull away but he looped her arm around the back of his neck. He held it in place with his hand and used his other arm to wrap around her waist.

"Let's go," Misaki could only nod with her head down, hiding her flushed face. She hopped along slowly with Kai keeping her balance.

"Wait for me!" She almost forgot about Ren, but didn't bother looking back, too focused on not falling on her face and dragging Kai down with her. They soon reached a cliff side overlooking the vast sea. The moon was full, illuminating the dark sea in a pale blue light that glimmered as the tides swayed. They could see the others a little ahead of them, staring out in awe. The sub manager was the first to notice them, meowing in greeting.

"Misaki, what happened?" The manager came up to them, inspecting her for injuries and hovering like a mother hen. She got irritated by his close proximity and pushed him back with her free hand.

"I'm fine Shin-san. It's just a sprain," he finally calmed down after hearing that.

"Let's go back and have a look at it okay?" She agreed and right then an explosion of fluorescent light caught everyone's attention. A beautiful fireworks display lit up the night sky.

"We can go back after this then," she nodded, never taking her eyes off of the sight in front of her. She leaned more into Kai's side when her foot started to hurt from all the weight. Kai unconsciously tightened his hold.

When the fireworks ceased, they headed back slowly to accommodate Misaki's pace. The sub manager meowed at her feet. She smiled down at her beloved pet.

"I'm fine." She shifted her gaze to Kai, wondering if he was tired from hauling half her weight. He didn't look the least bit tired.

Kai eased her down on the couch and helped her prop her foot on the table.

"Arigato," she said quietly with a sincere smile. It was very sweet of Kai to take the time to take care of her instead of just dumping her on the couch and going off to play Vanguard. That was what she expected, but, for once, it was nice to find out that she was wrong. This caring side of him made him more appealing in her opinion. Kai nodded in response and left when Shin came with a bag of ice. The sub manager hopped up next to her and proceeded to nap. Misaki flinched at the sudden coldness and the pain.

"Just rest Misaki. We'll come get you when dinner is ready," and with that, he went to check on dinner. She sighed and dropped her head back. There wasn't much one could when incapacitated. She reached into her inner vest pocket for her deck. She has to reconstruct it before the next tournament. So far she had no luck with it. She was use to the way her deck was now, but she couldn't win with it and that frustrates her to no end. Creating a new one was not easy. Misaki did not like to try new things and she cherished the deck her parents left her, which just makes this situation that much harder.

Her deck is laid out before her in a disastrous pile of no order. She doesn't even know where to begin. Her musing was cut short by an overly childish voice.

"Misa-ki!" Her left brow twitched.

"Misaki!" She snapped automatically, gathering up her cards and placing them back in her case. Ren was unaffected by her tone.

"Dinner is ready."

"I'm not hungry."

"Come on, lets go eat with everyone," ignoring her last comment, he pulled her abruptly off the couch. He must have forgotten her little injury seeing as he hurriedly dragged her off without any regard to her current condition.

* * *

Kai and the rest were seated in the dining room. They were all waiting for Ren, who went off to get Misaki. Light conversations were being made, but was interrupted by a cacophony of meowing and yelling that was drifting closer. A familiar scream reached Kai's ears and a thud followed. Everyone shot out of their seats and went to where the commotion was. Misaki was sprawled on her stomach on the floor, her injured foot kept out of harms way in the air. The sub manager was hissing at Ren, who had a clueless look on his face.

"Misaki-san are you okay?!" Aichi, Emi, and Kamui ran to her side. Misaki propped herself up until she was sitting on her rear.

"I'm fine," though she was annoyed with herself (and Ren). She hated feeling so helpless and needy of someone else's assistance, but her condition won't get any better, possibly get worse, if she tried to do everything herself. She would just have to suck it up and worry about her wounded pride later. Just as she was going to ask for help, a hand appeared in front of her. Kai's hand. Her heart thudded loudly in her chest as she took his hand. She rose up and steadied herself against him.

"Alright everyone, lets go eat before the food gets cold," the manager lead everyone into the dining area. Kai and Misaki were the last to make it. Everyone had already started chowing down on Ren's surprisingly good cooking and making conversation. Kai helped her into the seat next to him, which also happened to be next to the cat bowl. Sub manager slinked around her ankle e few times before going to the food bowl. She smiled down at it before digging in herself. The rest of the night went on without trouble. Kai helped Misaki whenever needed without a single complaint. The only minor mishap was when she had to ask him to take her to the bathroom. Twice. Once to relieve herself and another to shower. Both incidents were accompanied by awkward silences.

It was finally time for everyone to turn in for the night. Kai took Misaki to her room at sat her down on the bed. He turned to leave but felt hands grabbing his wrist.

"Um...thank you," she wasn't looking at him, but the floor with a blush dusting her pale cheeks. She felt a hand on top of her head and lifted her gaze to peek through her bangs at him. It was the closest thing to a smile Misaki ever saw on his expression. Her heart fluttered a bit at knowing she was the cause of it. She looked back down with a slightly high pitch "good night." She felt his hand lift, but didn't look up until she knew his back was turned. After Kai closed her door behind him, she laid down and closed her eyes.

That night, and for many nights to come, her dreams were pleasantly plagued by a handsome figure with deep emerald eyes and hazelnut locks.

* * *

**My first one-shot with this show and pairing.**

**Tell me what you think.**

**XxUchihaCherryBlossomxX**


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